My daughter's birthday is in April and I want to start planning now so I can have everything done early that I can. She wants a tea party she says. There will probably only be 4 or 5 kids her age there. My 12 year old will be there and a couple older kids that are siblings. For the little ones I was thinking as a craft I could get each one a "paint your own tea set" kit. They run $8 to $10 each, but since there will only be a few kids that is doable. If I don't do that, I was thinking I could get some cheap hats and set up a table where (with help) they could decorate their own "fancy tea party" hats (with help) maybe flowers, feathers, etc. I will have something for the older kids to do too, just havent figured that part out yet. My other daughter is not and never has been a girly girl (her parties in the past have included dinosaur, pirate, farm, you get the idea) so I am kind of out of my element here. What kind of decorations do I need? Flowers in vases on the tables? What wall art? Table clothes I assume something girly and with lace? Maybe doilies? What food? What do I serve it on? One thing that comes to my mind is 3 tiered serving platters. Maybe I could look around at thrift stores for things. I would like to do a few games too. I was thinking of a bean bag toss where I could make felt tea bags (oversized) as the bags, and make a big tea cup to toss them in. I don't know how I could make it, maybe just a bucket with a cardboard decorated tea cup glued to the front. I was also thinking of a "pin the handle on the teapot" game. Anyway, if anyone has ANY ideas about ANYTHING please share.

First off, EVERY attendant at a tea party is royalty! So goody bags could be simple sparkly organza or sewn drawstring bags, with blingy jewelry, ring pops, hair barettes, and maybe a little craft kit for the girls to do at home (check the $1 section of the craft store). Maybe even "play makeup", like chapstick (I don't know how you feel about kids makeup, but chapstick is pretty neutral). Stickers are always a big hit. Check your $1 store for goody bag bits, unless you plan on making them yourself.I would go super girly on this party. Cupcakes or Petit Fours. Little sandwiches with no crusts. Cute little finger foods. Wilton is a cake decorating company, but they have lots of ideas for regular foods also. For tea, I would look for something sweet and uncaffeinated, maybe Celestial Seasonings Cherry Berry or their Peach. Everything made up super pretty, with doilies, cloth napkins (if possible), real china or pretty disposable plates. I think of flowers and lace and lots of pink. Flowers could be made from tissue paper, instead of using real ones. Ribbons could be used to tie silverware and napkins together. At the end of February, search around for pink or lacy themed items on clearance, like bags of candy or decorations. Everything could be served on silver or gold platters, pink trays, crystal-looking plates..... check the thrift store or the $1 store for things like candy dishes or big bowls that look like cut glass, doilies, vases, and the like. Even candle holders can hold lollipops or candies.I love the idea of a craft at the party. Maybe the kids could all do a tea cup and saucer, because the older kids can make their own designs and then its age appropriate for everyone. Or all the different aged kids could decorate cookies to take home (you would prebake or prebuy cookies in shapes like teapots, flowers, hearts, bows etc. and put out icing, sugar sprinkles, candies etc. These cookie decorations go on sale after Valentines day). The cookies could dry during the party, then be packed up in take out containers.

I just thought of a few more things. The kids could decorate "Tea Chests", little wood or paper mache boxes, which are at the craft store for $1. That could be a craft, and you could put out adhesive foam shapes and paint pens or permanent markers if you didn't want to use paint.There are colored sugars, when the light hits them it looks glittery. Usually they are red or green and you see them at Christmastime, but any crat store would have different colors.You can make chocolate, or white chocolate lollipops really easily with a mold. You can even get pink or red colored candy discs.... you melt the candies in the microwave- super easy- and pour into a mold with a stick added. Those could be wrapped in plastic and tied with curling ribbon. The lollipops would make cute bouquets stuck in a vase or basket with some marbles or floral foam. There are flower shapes, and I would think maybe even tea shaped molds. Each kid could help herself to lollies throughout the party, and the moms would probably snack on one too! The chocolate can be used to cover cookies, pretzels, fruit etc and pretty it up. Its about $3 a bag, and $3 a mold, and $2 for the sticks. BUT the candies go on sale post-holiday, and the mold is reuseable, and you get like 50 sticks. Pretty good deal. You can use the sticks in cut fruits to make bouquets as well (think Edible Arrangements)

This is gonna be a looooooong post!A few years ago, we threw a "High Tea" birthday party; everyone wore pretty dresses and over-the-top jewellery, etc. Because she's only 5, it's quite likely that most of the little girls won't want to drink tea so as well as sweet fruity teas, we had pink & regular lemonade, pretty coloured fruit juices in big jugs, and we drank out of milkshake glasses with paper straws For food, little baby cupcakes with pastel icing; little sandwiches without crusts cut into triangles; maybe slices?; fruit (although a lot of the time it gets left uneaten. Sometimes if you make fruit skewers the kids are more likely to eat them) like strawberries, kiwi fruits, watermelon slices, etc. Something really fun is if you can get a little chocolate fountain - about $12 from K-mart - and dip strawberries and marshmallows in.For decorations, you want lots of floral, lacy, girly stuff. Hit up the thrift shops and go looking. It doesn't all have to match! Bunting flags are always pretty, and depending on what time you're thinking of having the party maybe some fairylights Maybe for the goodie-bags, you could make little baskets with each kid's name on it and use them as placecards? I think you're definitely right about the three-tiered cake stands, they're very feminine and you can usually find some at thrift stores and while you're there, maybe you can look for some odd teacups and saucers to have around the place. Streamers in pretty colours, lots of glitter and lace I think that the beanbag game sounds really good, but maybe use a laundry basket instead of a bucket so that they're more likely to get it in. I like the hat idea too! If you have some old beading stuff lying around, you could let them make jewellery. And if you have dress-ups, fashion runways are usually a hit! I also like the previous repliers idea about getting the older kids to decorate cookies to go in the goodie-bags, that should keep them occupied for a little while. By 12-ish they can usually entertain themselves, but maybe have some boardgames out to give them something to do. And don't forget to use them as slaves! Anyway, hope I said at least a couple of useful things. Looking forward to photos!